“Shackled,” directed by Nour Wazzi, is refreshing in its approach, even if it does wander a bit. Here we have a horror film not based on gore, but on elemental terrors and fright through imagery rather than screams. It’s short – at only 11 minutes – but not too short, which some shorts fall victim to. But overall, it’s solid as indies go, showcasing a nice score, camerawork, and acting throughout.
IMDb gives a plot description of a husband freeing his wife from a circus that has kidnapped her, but it’s not important to discuss this. The description above doesn’t come into play directly in the movie (aside from a woman being freed in the beginning), and the film is more an exercise in cinematography and suspense than plot.
Emilia Clarke plays the protagonist, a woman named ‘Malu,’ although character names are never uttered throughout the film. Her husband, played by Hadley Fraser, only exists in a brief cameo and then is gone. The two are to meet up later – a meeting Malu begins to fear may never happen.
Both actors do well here in a mostly dialogues-less production. Clarke, of course, is well known to a subset of “Game of Thrones” fans as Daenerys Targaryen, or “The Mother of Dragons.” While in that show her character is tough and commanding, here she is scared, frightened, and alone. As she stumbles through dark wilderness and circus grounds her fear is shown through little more than facial expressions. Clarke handles the material well.
Fraser, who has an extensive TV resume as well as appearing as an officer in 2012’s “Les Misérables” is effective in his one, lone scene. I was honestly very impressed with his acting, and would have liked to see more of him; but that’s not the kind of movie this is. Placing what appears to be a locket in his wife’s hands, he sets her off on her journey.
The cinematography in the film is by Sam Care, and is wonderful. Care has a resume adorned with shorts (such as the 2008 “Open Secrets” and 2010’s “Nightswimming”), and it shows here. The lighting in the opening sequence is dank, golden, and subdued. And Clarke’s first foray out of doors, as she runs amidst hanging laundry sheets, is my favorite shot in the whole film. There’s noise and voices in the background, and I immediately thought of a circus, before I ever read the film’s description. With images and varied close-ups and pull backs, Care is the strongest asset to this film.
“Shackled” also has a effective score, mixing standard horror sounds such as low drones and pianos with bright music boxes and doleful violins. I’ve seen this kind of sound mixing before in films like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), but here the soundtrack is partnered with a macabre and suspenseful atmosphere, not simply gore.
To be fair, the film is a bit confusing, as we, the audience, never discovers what happened to land Malu in this predicament or where she is running to. A couple times she stumbles, discovers a knapsack, or sees a man silhouetted in the foreground, but we also never find out what these mean either. The ending is ambiguous and bizarre (while visually majestic- the scene looks like a impressionist painting), providing no answers.
All in all, it’s hard to find much fault with this film. It features filmmaking that is easy to watch, and is rather fluid for being mostly images. While a few more frames and some more explanation may have helped, it’s a nice film by Wazzi and company (the film did win a Golden Palm Award at the Mexico International Film Festival).
If you like independent films, “Shackled” is certainly worth checking out.
You can watch the film for free on Vimeo by clicking this link here.
– by Mark Ziobro
